The Latest from SaaStr: The Silent, Lurking Churn

By Jason Lemkin · Monday, February 14, 2022 | Blog Posts, Customer Success

It took me a little while to see activation rates as literally one of the 3-4 most important metrics in SaaS, but it probably is.  I started to track activation rates at a lot of start-ups I work with, and I saw numbers that shocked me.  I often see 60% or so activation rates 30 days in.

Think about that.  That means after all the time and money put into building your product, marketing your product, trialing your product, demo’ing your product, selling your product, closing the deal, celebrating … and then … a ton of those customers are immediately at risk.  Why?  They don’t deploy.

Read the full article: The Silent, Lurking Churn: Activation Rates Less Than 90%

By Jason Lemkin · Monday, February 14, 2022 | Growth, Sales

As you cross $2.5m, $3m in ARR, you can start to see a path to real cash flow and financial independence, even though you aren’t there quite yet.  

Add in a bunch of pre-paid annual contracts, and by $3m, $4m ARR or so … you can start to feel pretty confident in your nice, capital-efficient model.

I hope it stays that way, I do.  But a top piece of advice I can give you as you round $3-$4m in ARR is … expect your sales efficiency to decline after $8-$10m in ARR or so, almost no matter how great your sales team is.

Read the full article: Your Sales Efficiency Will Probably Plummet Toward $10m ARR. Plan For It.

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By Amanda Beaty · Saturday, February 12, 2022  | Marketing, Metrics

Scaling a business is difficult, and scaling a SaaS business can be even more of a challenge. However, there are practical methods you can use to acquire new customers, drive higher retention, and grow your company. 

Gorgias CEO Romain Lapeyre has successfully scaled the Gorgias SMB customer base from 1,000 to 10,000 by relying on data. Here he shares advice on how to use data to acquire more customers and increase ARR. 

Read the full article: Acquiring 10,000 SMB Customers Solely from Data with Gorgias CEO Romain Lapeyre

By Jason Lemkin · Saturday, February 12, 2022  | Early

A new VP of Sales doesn’t always double sales in 30 days — although it can happen in SMB sales.  But they do move the needle.  They don’t just talk.

As an update to a classic SaaStr post, I asked founders what were the signs they first saw … that a mis-hired VP of Sales wasn’t going to work out.  I’ve collected them here.  If you think you’ve made a mishire, but aren’t sure, take a look at this list.

Read the full article: 30+ SaaS CEOs Share The Signs Their First VP of Sales … Just Wasn’t Going to Work Out

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